1983 Harrods bombing

On the afternoon of 17 December 1983, members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) parked a car bomb near the side entrance of Harrods department store, on Hans Crescent in Knightsbridge, central London. The device, containing 25 to 30 lb (11 to 14 kg) of explosives, was hidden in a 1972 blue Austin 1300 GT saloon and set to detonate by timer. At 12:44, a man using an IRA codeword telephoned the central London branch of the Samaritans charity, stating there was a car bomb outside Harrods and another inside the store, and gave the car's registration plate, but according to police he provided no other description of the vehicle. The warning came 37 minutes before detonation, but the area was not evacuated in time.

The bomb exploded at about 13:21 as four police officers in a car, an officer on foot, and a police dog-handler approached the suspect vehicle. Six people were killed — three police officers and three civilian bystanders — and 86 others were injured, including 14 police officers. The civilians who died were journalist Philip Geddes, 24, who had gone to the scene after hearing about the alert; Jasmine Cochrane-Patrick, 25; and US citizen Kenneth Salvesen, 28. The Metropolitan Police officers killed were Sergeant Noel Lane, 28, and Constable Jane Arbuthnot, 22; a third officer, Inspector Stephen Dodd, 34, died in hospital on 24 December from his injuries. Constable Jon Gordon survived but lost both legs and part of his right hand. The blast damaged 24 cars and all five floors on that side of Harrods.

At the time of the explosion, the IRA made a second warning call claiming a bomb had been left in the C&A department store at the east end of Oxford Street; police cleared and cordoned the area, but the claim proved false. Harrods reported an estimated £1 million loss in turnover but reopened three days later. Denis Thatcher, husband of the Prime Minister, visited the store afterward.

The day after the bombing, the IRA Army Council issued a statement saying its members had planted the device but that the operation had not been authorised by the organisation, citing failures by police to act on the warning and expressing regret for the civilian casualties while affirming continued operations in Britain. Home Secretary Leon Brittan responded that terrorist organisations by nature lack disciplined control over their members. Author Gary McGladdery, in his book on the Provisional IRA in England, wrote that the bombing exposed problems with the IRA's cell system, under which units could become largely autonomous. Following the attack, the IRA shifted its emphasis toward military targets in England. Harrods was targeted by the IRA on other occasions, in 1973, 1974, and again in January 1993. A memorial exists at the bomb site, and an annual journalism prize and lecture in memory of Philip Geddes are held at the University of Oxford.